Labour agreement and Labour relations

Labour research contest looks to better labour policies

Doãn Giang May 7 2018 12:00AM GMT + 7

In Hanoi, the Ministry of Labour - The International Labour Organization (ILO) in Vietnam and Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) have launched the 2018 Labour Research Contest with the topic of “Research for exploring Industrial Relations practices and its reflection toward better policies”. Deputy Minister Le Quan had the opening speech and launched the contest.

MOLISA Deputy Minister Le Quan said the contest looks to seek new ideas, thus perfecting policies, the revised Labour Code, the Law on Employment, and the Law on Gender Equality. Through the contest, which is the key activity in the framework of the ongoing “new labour relations” project in Vietnam, the organising board hopes to create initial experience for deploying larger research activities in the future, contributing to building a database on labour relations in the country.

To build and implement policies on new labour relations, and promote new practices of voluntary bargaining and social dialogue, the Deputy Minister Le Quan said it is necessary to enhance theoretical and practical research activities of labour relations-related issues.

The first initiative of its kind aims to provide an opportunity for strengthening local research capacity on labour issues, especially industrial relations-related topics. The contest focuses on research skills using database and information for analysis and conceptualization.

It is also expected to connect researchers and policy-makers, towards taking advantages of high-quality labour research with useful and pragmatic findings to serve the policy-making process.

The Organization board hoped that the applicants chose the research method using the available database, as well as recommended the practical surveys in order to find out the themes: “The effect of collective bargaining on wages and working conditions”, “Innovative mechanism to settle interest-based labour disputes through mediation”, “Linkage between social dialogue and business performance”, “Trade union rights in the context of Viet Nam’s trade union reform”, and “Gender-based discrimination in the workplace”.

Applicants, who are individuals of Vietnamese nationality or legally operated Vietnamese organisations in form of research teams, shall submit their applications with documents required by the organising board, including application form, budget proposal, and curriculum vitae.

Applicants shall have opportunities to receive awards up to 100 million VND for two categories namely Grant awards for good research proposals and Grant awards for best papers.